City and Landlords Agree to No-Fee Registration Program

After reviewing a plan to charge landlords a fee to implement and maintain a rental property registration program, lawmakers in Middletown, Ohio have agreed that the ordinance would not be necessary.

Landlords had opposed the plan, which has been implemented in many cities across the country, arguing that it unduly punishes those who are towing the line in an effort to rein in a few bad apples.

According to a news report, the new plan charts middle ground where the city will track all landlords, keep communication open, and only target those who are not maintaining their properties. The city will borrow a list of rental property owners from existing utility records in order to defer costs, and landlords will continue to cooperate by maintaining rental properties to the city’s standards.

The report says that landlords were successful in showing that onerous regulations on rental property owners only discourages investment in the community.

More than a 100 landlords packed City Hall when the plan was first under debate, according to the report. They rejected the idea of a blanket registration program that would increase fees with little benefit for the city.

Both sides are optimistic the new stategy will succeed, according to the report.

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